Konoha's Mission Master

That's ruthless...

The delegation from the Land of Lightning was merely there to renegotiate grain import prices for the next few years. They might lower the prices, but not by a staggering half price. Clearly, Shinichi was dissatisfied with the price and was directly contemplating murder…

“Okay.” Yakumo agreed without any hesitation.

"But the delegation from the Land of Lightning is protected by adults from the Hidden Cloud Village. I can't defeat them," Yakumo explained, lowering his head with some guilt.

"Isn't Yakumo's younger brother quite strong?"

Shinichi paused slightly in his hand holding the wine glass, then continued to ask in a warm manner, even placing his right hand on Yakumo's shoulder to show his intimacy.

"I'm just an ordinary medical ninja..."

Silence... and then a long silence.

Shinichi withdrew his right hand, lowered his head and then quickly raised it again. In that instant, the drunkenness on his face gradually dissipated, and his sharp eyes were fixed on Yakumo.

"Haha... I underestimated you."

Suddenly he gave a self-deprecating laugh. In the past few minutes, Shinichi had only seen calmness in Yakumo's eyes.

That look in her eyes seemed to see right through his disguise, yet she didn't expose him but simply watched his performance quietly.

How could someone who possesses Jonin-level combat power at the age of seven be simple? Shinichi couldn't help but regret being deceived by Yakumo's youthful appearance.

Zhen subconsciously straightened her back, increasing the distance between them—a defensive posture.

"What are you saying, Shinichi-nii?"

"Is there any point in continuing this performance?"

Shinichi smiled coldly. He considered himself a smart man and could not accept being fooled like this. A flash of murderous intent appeared in his eyes.

"I don't understand, Shinichi-nii-san." Yakumo smiled innocently as always. In his opinion, it was enough to play dumb. His opponent was a smart person who knew how to be patient, which meant that he would not choose to fight to the death.

"Good, very good... Hahaha." Shinichi laughed in anger, picked up the wine jug in front of him and drank it all in one gulp, then slammed it heavily to the ground, a strange blush appearing on his cheeks.

"Let's make a deal. You help me kill the entire delegation from the Land of Lightning, and I'll let you choose three secret techniques that the Daimyo clan has spent a thousand years collecting."

"But I really can't beat the delegation from the Land of Lightning."

Yakumo emphasized again, staring innocently at Shinichi, who was on the verge of anger.

"Fine...very good...are you really not afraid that I'll make you suffer eternal damnation?" Shinichi threatened coldly.

"Brother Shinichi, what are you saying?" Despite the threat, Yakumo still looked innocently at Shinichi's gradually distorted face.

"Besides that sentence... can't you say anything else?"

"Brother Shinichi, how can I help you?"

With a crash, the second exquisite wine jug shattered into pieces, and Shinichi glared fiercely at Yakumo.

Just when Yakumo thought Shinichi was about to overturn the table and the negotiations would break down, he pulled out a very ancient scroll from his pocket.

"This is the catalog of secret techniques... You can browse through it first before deciding whether or not to proceed with the transaction." Shinichi's expression returned to calm in an instant, as if his madness and anger just moments before were all an illusion.

"Okay... I'll take a look first..."

Yakumo smiled as he accepted the scroll and began to browse it.

Insect control techniques... originating from the Aburame clan.

Shadow clones... Originating from Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village).

Wind Release: Wind Cutter... Origin unknown.

Wind Release: Wind Blade... Origin unknown.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique... Origin: Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village).

Lightning Release: Earth Walk... Origin unknown.

…………

An unknown sealing technique, a yin-yang seal, of unknown origin.

Just as Yakumo had guessed, the Daimyo clan's thousand-year-old collection was mostly trash, consisting of D and C-rank ninjutsu. The few that Yakumo hadn't heard of were incomplete and uncultivable. Only the unknown sealing technique, Yin Yang Seal, piqued Yakumo's interest, but only slightly.

“Unfortunately, I still choose to refuse…” Yakumo smiled and handed the scroll in his hand to Shinichi.

"That's a real shame..." Shinichi took the scroll and left without looking back, as if he hadn't taken the unpleasantness to heart at all.

"Goodbye, Shinichi-nii-san."

Yakumo stood up, a bright smile on her face.

"My father was able to subdue Hashirama Senju and win the Land of Fire back then, so why can't I do the same today?"

Shinichi walked to the door and sighed without turning his head.

"Perhaps it's because the great name back then relied on sincerity, while you relied on scheming. After all, the strong are very sensitive to malice."

Shinichi turned around abruptly, and Yakumo was still smiling brightly in the courtyard, as if the words he had just spoken had not come from his own mouth.

"Hahaha……"

"Brother Yakumo, you are really good."

Shinichi put on a warm and gentle smile again and sighed. The two smiled at each other and turned away.

Shinichi walked away and disappeared at the end of the corridor, while Yakumo opened his bedroom door to go to sleep. Their first confrontation ended there.

Chapter 63 Attack

The next morning, when Yakumo opened the courtyard gate, he was greeted not with breakfast, but with Chenyu dressed in blue.

"My lord, the lord instructed you and Qingshan to leave the lord's residence immediately after you wake up..." Chenyu said apologetically, bowing slightly.

Yakumo was taken aback. He hadn't expected Shinichi to be so stingy, but he immediately went back to his room to pack his luggage. Half an hour later, the two of them stood in front of the Daimyo Mansion, looking extremely forlorn.

"What happened yesterday?" Reiko Aoyama asked. She was actually quite confused; she had stayed up all night doing experiments and was catching up on sleep when Yakumo woke her up...

"Our daimyo wanted me to help him kill the envoy from the Land of Lightning, but I refused... so we were kicked out," Yakumo explained somewhat helplessly.

"He actually wanted to kill the envoy from the Land of Lightning. Isn't he afraid of reigniting the war?" Aoyama Reiko asked incredulously.

"Who knows?"

He's already doing a great job of avoiding being taken advantage of; as for other aspects, he really can't understand Shinichi's thoughts.

After a quick breakfast in the City of Fire, the two set off on their journey back to Konoha.

Green hills and clear waters, with a gentle breeze.

Aoyama Reiko suddenly grabbed Yakumo, only to see three burly men chasing after them at an extremely fast speed.

Three seconds later, the two were surrounded.

"Jonin Aoyama, would you like to come with us to Kumogakure?" The deep, resonant voice shook the air, making it sound incredibly low.

The burly man leading the group was at least two meters tall. Standing in front of Yakumo, he was like a wall, blocking almost 80 percent of the sunlight.

"Are you the Cloud Ninja responsible for protecting the delegation?"

The three burly men's expressions changed slightly, and their reactions, in a sense, confirmed Yakumo's guess.

He still got outsmarted by Shinichi... It feels really unpleasant to be outsmarted.

He didn't drive away Yakumo and Aoyama Reiko today out of stinginess, but rather to use Aoyama Reiko as bait to lure the delegation's guards away, so that he could easily send someone to deal with the Land of Lightning delegation.

"How do you know?" the burly man in the lead asked, his gaze toward Yakumo growing increasingly hostile.

“Because someone is going to attack the delegation…” Yakumo replied. He betrayed Shinichi without hesitation, but it was no use. In his mind, the three people in front of him were already as good as dead.

The leader of the Cloud Ninjas breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and looked at Aoyama Reiko to continue speaking.

"We hope that Jonin Aoyama will come with us to Kumogakure."

Upon seeing this, Yakumo suddenly understood everything. This delegation had entered the Land of Fire under the pretense of discussing the price of imported grain, but their real goal was to kidnap Aoyama Reiko.

"Hey…"

It's hard to say for sure who schemed against whom... In the beginning, the Third Raikage schemed against the Third Hokage, plotting to take advantage of Reiko Aoyama, a Jonin-level medical ninja. Then Shinichi schemed against Yakumo, forcing him to confront three Jonin directly... In short, he was a pawn.

“Aoyama Jonin, if you resist, we will kill your disciple directly; otherwise, we will let him leave when we reach the border of the Land of Fire.”

"What should we do...?" Reiko Aoyama asked.

“Sister runs, I’ll cover the rear…” Yakumo replied.

The conversation between the two left the three Cloud Ninja somewhat confused. Shouldn't the normal order be for Aoyama Reiko to cover the rear and let her apprentice run first?

"I hope Jonin Aoyama will carefully consider this..."

The three Cloud Ninja mobilized their chakra at the same time, but they focused more on Aoyama Reiko. As for the first-year student who wasn't even a Genin according to intelligence... she was no longer within their consideration.

"Why don't you three let us leave? If you go back now, you might be able to avoid the fate of your delegation being slaughtered." Yakumo took two steps back and drew his purple flame in a defensive stance.

"It's part of the mission, sorry..."

Three Cloud Ninjas pounced on Aoyama Reiko at the same moment, and at the same time, the shackles on Yakumo's body were suddenly released, and blinding lightning clad her body like armor.

"Shh! Shh! Shh!"

The three of them immediately retreated. In that instant, they felt death. The unassuming child suddenly unleashed a terrifying pressure that terrified them.

At that very moment, it seemed as if the air around him trembled violently, the earth around him cracked inch by inch, and a heartbeat could be clearly heard. That heartbeat sounded like that of some kind of colossal creature, deep and far-reaching, like the drumbeat of war.

The surrounding air was stirred up by white electric currents, spinning rapidly like a vortex; it was an amount of chakra that felt almost tangible.

"Sister Qingshan, you go first, I'll be right there..."

Yakumo smiled and said to Aoyama Reiko, her tone as relaxed as if she were a younger brother taking his older sister on a picnic, and the younger brother squatted down to tie his shoelaces so that his older sister could go first.

"No, this time, your sister will fight alongside you..."

With a thud, a baseball bat gleaming with a silvery-white metallic sheen appeared in Reiko Aoyama's hand, which she wielded with great force.

"Actually... your sister isn't weak at all."

Reiko Aoyama smiled as she put away her frameless glasses and tied her messy hair into a ponytail. With these simple movements, she lost her usual quiet and aloof demeanor and instead appeared decisive and sharp, like a Valkyrie from mythology. The baseball bat she casually swung made a whistling sound as it cut through the air.

"Go!" the leading ninja shouted. Although the mission had taken an unexpected turn, there was no reason to back down.

The Cloud Ninja's combat system is mostly based on ninjutsu and taijutsu. The three Cloud Ninja were instantly enveloped in lightning, and after putting on metal gauntlets, they rushed towards Yakumo.